O deus artesão: o papel do demiurgo no Timeu de Platão

Abstract

This master´s thesis aims at analyzing the mythic figure of the demiurge in Platos Timaeus. In order to fulfill this goal, we start from a general view of the dialogue, aiming at understanding the philosophical significance of the craftsman god in his relation to the other elements exposed throughout the narrative, namely, the lesser gods, the cosmic soul, necessity and the receptacle. We argue that the demiurge operates as a metaphorical representative of an intelligent principle that is assumed as being present in the world, in other words, a primary cause of the generation of the cosmos. To support our hypothesis, we investigate the prelude that circumscribes Timaeuss discourse as a likely myth. We also evaluate literal and non literal readings of the Timaeus, and indicate the cosmological traditions with which Plato must have been in contact in order to establish an intelligent principle as the primary foundation of becoming. Our research still reverberates in the inevitable reflection on the importance of forms to Plato's thought, even in the so called later period of production, as the Timaeus seems to indicate.